Navy pilots land at Beale

They're learning to speak "Air Force" and to appreciate some advantages of flying planes from the comfort of an office chair.

Three U.S. Navy fliers training at Beale Air Force Base will be the first in their service branch qualified to operate the RQ4 Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.

The training also represents a first for Beale, which has never before hosted training for Navy personnel, according to U.S. Air Force Maj. Doug Arioli of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing.

Arioli is among the Global Hawk pilots conducting the training exercises which began in October and are scheduled to continue through January.

"These guys don't have to make the mistakes we did," Arioli said of the Navy pilots.

He expects the Navy pilots, and a civilian pilot who also is learning to fly the Global Hawk, will not be the last of his trainees.

"That's the idea, anyway," said Arioli. "Hopefully, we can keep this (training at Beale) going."

A maritime version of the Global Hawk is in demonstration stages and is expected to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the war in Afghanistan.

"To be on the front lines with the Navy's latest technology is exciting," said Lt. Brian Carruth, 28, of Patrol Squadron 45 in Jacksonville, Fla.

All three of the Global Hawk's Navy trainees are P-3 Orion pilots. The P-3 conducts open-ocean surveillance to locate submarines or to plant mines. The aircraft can fly as low as 200 feet, but also flies high-altitude reconnaissance missions like those flown by the Global Hawk.

Though much of what they're learning is already familiar, the Navy pilots said they have had to make some cultural adjustments at Beale.

"When I refer to the starboard wing, people look at me funny here," said Lt. Mike Anderson, 30, of Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10 on Whidbey Island, Wash.

Lt. Chris Safford, 32, said that while waiting to order food in the galley — or "dining facility," in Air Force-speak — a Beale airman became confused by the sight of Safford's unfamiliar flightsuit. "He asked me what country I was from," Safford said. Safford, who represents Patrol Squadron 10 out of Brunswick, Maine, said that after two months of operating ground-based controls, he looks forward to finishing the Global Hawk training, getting through follow-up work at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland, and returning to the skies.

"I miss the smell of jet fumes and flying 300 feet over the water at night," he said. His fellow trainees nodded in shared reverie.

"I miss it too," said Carruth. "Once a pilot, always a pilot."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Nancy Pasternack at 749-4712 or at npasternack@appealdemocrat.com